Thank you very much for your letter to the editor published in the May 20 edition of The Nugget. I sincerely hope that all intelligent and caring people in Sisters will read, digest and remember it. Perhaps The Nugget will even consider reprinting it closer to the Sisters City Council candidate filing date, and/or the election date, to remind potential candidates and voters.

Sheriff’s candidate Scott Schaier would have Sisters’ voters believe his work experience as a hospitality industry worker, a car salesman, a real estate agent and patrol level law enforcement officer should earn him their support this November.

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended our lives, bringing in its wake uncertainty about the future, financial hardship, social isolation, and it has frustrated our efforts to support vulnerable loved-ones.

During these challenging times, one thing that cannot be overstressed is communication. In that regard, the City is determined to keep everyone as informed as possible as we progress through this pandemic. You can be assured that we are in sync with many decision-making bodies whose guidance and recommendations are being shared daily and the City is committed to present that data in an organized format every week in cooperation with The Nugget.

As one of four focus areas of the Sisters Country Vision, “resiliency” has been top-of-mind for the Vision Implementation team this month, as Sisters Country grapples with changes to our daily lives, including the ways we connect with one another, plan for the future, care for the most vulnerable among us, and support our local economy. In these unprecedented times of global pandemic, the Vision Team has been inspired and encouraged by many examples of positive, community-led action. I had the honor of speaking with a few Sisters Country residents and local leaders who have learned to adapt and innovate to encourage community resiliency during COVID-19.

Despite all the news and analysis we hear every evening, there appear to be many tough questions not being asked or answered. We get the mounting death toll and personal tragedy/heart-warming coping stories, but very little in the way of hard facts.

On April 2, Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly relieved Capt. Brett Crozier of command of the nuclear carrier USS Roosevelt for sending his request for assistance over non-secure email to a “broad array of people” rather than up the chain of command. He stated that Crozier “allowed the complexity of the challenge of the COVID breakout on the ship (which started nine days earlier) to overwhelm his ability to act professionally.”

One night after a fall, my 94-year-old mother-in-law was catapulted into dementia at a speed that was unfathomable. Four falls in six days, three ambulance transports to the hospital ER and an eventual admittance after sustaining a fracture were just the beginning.

Before becoming a non-profit organization, the founding members of Age Friendly Sisters Country (AFSC) listened to local seniors, heard their concerns, and compiled data about their needs. What they learned in those early days was that the same issues facing aging adults affected people of all ages.

Land-use planning in the U.S. began in the late 1800s at the intersection of three vocations: public health, architecture, and social work, as all three groups had concerns about the arrangement of cities and the potential impacts of their growth.

In the early years of our country, there was a plot of ground in Boston set aside for the “common use” of all citizens — now a lovely park called the Boston Commons. Citizens brought cows and sheep to graze; others planted crops. But in time a conflict arose as the land became oversubscribed. Who gets to use it? Who makes the rules? What are the common values and mechanisms for governing our commons?

Many readers of the February 12 article on recreational shooting in the National Forest may not know that Federal law expressly promotes and protects such shooting, or of the importance of recreational shooting to Central Oregon.

Oregon Governor Kate Brown recently released a letter of support for removing the four lower Snake River dams in eastern Washington; an action that, if realized, would short-change the environment and electric ratepayers.